WHAT A DAY, 5min., Thailand
Directed by Allen Cheng
Our world is busy, lonely, and exhausting. It is so common for us to go through a rough day, come home and lay on our bed with tears and sweats, then simply complain to ourselves, “ugh, what a day”.

https://www.instagram.com/allenuknowwhatimsaying/

Get to know the filmmaker:

The topic is something I can resonate with, and I’m sure most people do too. Just the idea of finding purpose(s) in a mundane life, because if everyday ends up being a “what a day”, then it eventually stacks up to “what a life”. I don’t like the sound of that, so I figured I would make something that portrays that.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

BAPTISM, 8min, USA
Directed by Alex Alexander
The relief, the rest that comes from truth.

https://www.instagram.com/alexx.alexxander/

Get to know the filmmaker:

The inspiration and the motivation were very separate things.

The desire to be seen and known is intrinsic to the human experience, to be held in your truest most authentic form and understood in that moment, and I too am human. This is a self exploration, aided by the love and attendance and patience of a partner. The patience and gentleness of my partner, the way they often bathed me, the way they support whoever I am and guided me without ever forcing.

This was my first attempt at making a film, I wanted to do something close to my heart that I understood innately to iliminate any complications with foreign subject matter. This is actually a nugget of an idea for a much more complicated story.

The actual motivation was that the locations and team were going to become unavailable at the end of summer and I knew it was time to start moving on this idea!.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

A MOMENT OF MOMENTS, 3min., Ukraine
Directed by Igor Hnes
Every family has numerous special, personal, and interesting moments that happen every day in which we can see love, and this is one of those.

Get to know the filmmaker:

Budget: I shot my first short film with a decent budget, having everything I wanted. So, I wanted to challenge myself with a low-budget story to see if I could pull it off. The result: $4 for the entire film and already 14 awards at various festivals.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

BARBETTE + FONTAINE, 14min., USA
Directed by John-Carlos Estrada, Zak Zeh
A century apart, two Texas icons unite through art, resilience, and a shared legacy of self-expression and freedom.

https://instagram.com/barbette.fontaine

Get to know filmmaker John-Carlos Estrada:
The idea for Barbette + Fontaine came from an award-winning TV news profile I reported on for CBS Austin. After the broadcast story aired in June 2022… I was Inspired by a dream where the legendary Texas drag icon Barbette urged me to tell their story. We’re honored to provide Barbette with their final performance and take pride in doing so. Here’s the link to the CBS Austin story: bit.ly/3CeAXTG

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

RE:BIRTH, 8min., Taiwan
Directed by Laticia Fan
A lost soul traumatized by her past and trapped in the confines of her own imagination. Unable to move forward with life until she was led to begin her journey of recovery and discovery by a sound healer, ultimately conquering her darkest memories, fears, and desires, and transcending the perpetual tug-of-war between attachment and letting go.

https://www.laticiafan.com/
https://instagram.com/sheng.shortfilm

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

CATS AND HUSBANDS, 7min., USA
Directed by Grace Samson, Barry Samson
We enter the story where two close friends, Fern and Marcie get together at a local coffee shop to celebrate a birthday. Fern has been going through two years of cycles of In Vitro, desperately trying to get pregnant but with no success. Her husband, Nick’s coping mechanism has been dressing up with the family Cat and taking silly pictures. Marcie jokingly suggests that Fern just book a vacation for herself and leave hubby with the cat. All this to help soften the reality that the birthday Fern celebrates today is that of a child she miscarried two years before.

https://instagram.com/catsandhusbands

Get to know filmmaker Grace Samson:
Being a thirty two year old woman, I started to see ads for freezing your eggs. I thought, wow I’m not ready for that yet, but interesting what a pressure it is to have babies as a woman at my age. I wanted to include a woman’s story that others who are in the same position could commiserate with and feel like they are not alone.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

CRAVATE, 11min., Canada
Directed by Clement Faure
When Mav wakes up from another mysterious nightmare, he decides not to take his medicine that day. Locked in a dark basement residence and haunted by his work, he wishes he would have a break. That morning, Mav doesn’t expect to face someone he might know.

http://fluxproduction.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/flux.production.ca
https://www.instagram.com/clement.faure.video/

Get to know the filmmaker:

I got the main idea for this film one morning 7 years ago. I woke up after a sleepless night and went to the bathroom to wash and dress. I started to look at myself in the mirror and as I was staring intensely at my reflection , I became aware of these two characters, these paradoxal life paths’s desires inside me. My conscious wanted something and my unconscious (reflection) was saying something else. That was also explaining why I was not sleeping, why I was so stressed and anxious in my life at that time: my two selves were not aligned.
Then I knew I wanted the story to take place in a dystopian universe, a near future but where the viewer would feel the underground confined environnement. This place is the metaphorical representation of the first character’s psyche obviously. Then the bathroom is the place where you wash yourself, you wash your sins maybe, you wash to make your mind cleaner, clearer. I knew I wanted these metaphorical aspects in the film that added another layer to the story.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

FLOWING – MY DREAM OF MORE FREEDOM, 4min., Austria
Directed by Christine Sonvilla, Marc Graf
In “Flowing – My dream of more freedom” the river itself speaks to us about its dream of flowing wilder and freer again, thereby providing a home (again) to a diversity of species.

https://www.facebook.com/christine.sonvilla/
https://www.instagram.com/grafmarcphotography/

Get to know filmmakers Christine Sonvilla & Marc Graf:
Christine + Marc: The Dam Removal Initiative is an incredibly powerful tool in river conservation and restoration. However, it still needs more attention in the public and with decision-makers. That’s why we wanted to highlight how very much our rivers are craving for more freedom.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

EnaMOREd, 11min., Finland
Directed by Petri Puroaho
”EnaMOREd” (2023) explores the relationship between reality and dreams. Film shows what is it like to live in parallel world at the same time while coping with the real life events. What we carry in our minds eye can be different than what society assumes from us and even tries to conform us to so called normality when dealing with a persons love-life and relationship.

https://kipikipiweb.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/PetriPuroahoFinland/
https://www.instagram.com/we.sock.pp

Get to know the filmmaker:

Awareness, therapeutic process and time-efficiency. Being myself in a relationship that this film`s theme deals with made it a personal journey, just like my other works of art before. Since the day I started doing music and films, I have always based and rooted all my artistic interpretations and visions from personal experiences or wishes, so I could bring a little bit of hope and enjoyment to the world. I found and got to meet the love of my life just before pandemic started (2019). Then we were torn apart because of restrictions and other things for a long time. So we created a full life online. And last year (2023) we got to meet again. So that time apart was a life-changing experience and made me rethink and re-create my understanding of relationships in a new way. That transformation was so powerful that I felt I wanted to bring a little bit more awareness of that to the world through my film.

And by creating the film it became even almost a therapeutic experience for myself, how to express this phenomenon that I had experienced and lived through (and still living) but this time in film through visuals, music and a story. I also wanted to prove to myself that I could make enough of an impactful story-line with time-efficient length with the film. I wanted to tell so many details and it would have taken hours to explain everything. So I wanted to tackle the theme of the film and get to the heart of it with a few main ideas, and give the audience the chance to fill out the rest of the story in their minds, and the final impact of my film to them would be through their (audience) own reflections.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

SCHERAZADE'S CLOAK, 7min., Italy

Directed by Michele Stella

A prince called Kalendar falls in love with a prostitute, Scherazade, who's under the protection of an evil witch. Thanks to his friends and the help of a goddess, he frees Scherazade

https://www.datatalk.it/

Get to know the filmmaker:

The main reason was the possibility to collaborate with Florania, the emerging fashion brand that have produced the short film together with our agency Dalk. Me and Flora, the super talented mind behind Florania, were very connected since the first call we did: she wanted to promote her new collection inspired by sea fantasy voyages, i wanted to make a short film inspired by "One Thousand and One night", one of my favorite book.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

DERECK FROM HINGE, 7min., USA
Directed by Jeff Rones
Fresh off a breakup, a young millennial tries her luck on a popular dating app with a gen z.

Get to know the filmmaker:
As a single twenty-seven-year-old in 2024, I am no stranger to dating apps. Unfortunately, what dating apps promise is a far cry from what they achieve for the people on them. I wanted to channel my frustration into something relatable. Although studies on the impact of mental health and self-esteem from dating apps are out there, active dialogue on how these apps are affecting the users is few and far between. I hope that my film builds awareness on what we actually seek from swiping away our loneliness. Perhaps the commodification of building connection and romance is not actually in our best interest. My hope is that this film allows the audience to dig deeper and laugh at the ridiculousness that is dating apps.

Another aspect that I wanted to incorporate was the generational gap between millennials and generation z. As someone on the cusp of these generations, I find myself caught in the middle. I might frequently use “puppers” to describe cute dogs like Madison, or find myself caught up on TikTok like Dereck, although maybe not on a first date. There is much humor to be found in this dissonance. I believe there are deep issues that both generations find themselves in, but I know the film can only scrape the surface. These issues include a reckoning with the pervasiveness of social media, a worsening housing market, social isolation of a pandemic, and a rapidly changing climate. I hope that my film can start these conversations between generations to reach some common ground.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

CHERUBIM, 17min., Ukraine
Directed by Evgeniy Matvienko
«VARTA» is a series of documentary novellas about the Ukrainian military, created by the authorial team of filmmakers called NEUTRINO. Since the full-scale invasion of russia of Ukraine, the team has been documenting the military events and telling the stories of our soldiers.

Get to know the filmmaker:
There is a war in the country, people are dying every day, our military are dying. I am tired of hearing about heroes only after their deaths, and I decided to change this, namely to make a film about the inner world of our fighters, and show the whole world their brave look, deep soul and sincere desire to live in peace. To document real people who resist evil and protect us, civilians. We want people to be able to see heroes when they are alive, not when they die, so that over time our generations can see those who have kept peace in our homes.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

SHATTERED REMEDY, 16min., USA/China

Directed by Dmitry Kulak

A police officer suffers from severe migraine right before his night shift. He decides to fight it with abnormal amount of medication. However, he does not realize that the side effects will soon cause him to lose his ability to understand reality and differentiate between his own experiences and those of others.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmRa6OCKvGx/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

AUGURY, 5min., USA
Directed by Cousteau Bix Christopher
What do you see?

Get to know the filmmaker:

I have always been fascinated with film, and I fully committed to being a filmmaker at age 11, a passion that has never faltered for me. With the case of Augury, it had certainly been a while since I created my last short film (during the pandemic). A lot of momentum was derailed due to covid, so I switched gears and while working full-time focused on getting my Bachelor’s degree in Film and Media Studies through ASU Online. Throughout this time, I also did extensive amounts of personal research into cinematography and film production to learn as much as I could.

Once I finally received my Bachelor’s, I decided to put myself to the test. I wanted to make the highest quality production I could with essentially no budget. I believe the total budget for this film was around $200, and it pretty much all went to the prop and craft services. I don’t come from a wealthy family, and never had that “rich uncle” or anyone who would be able to fund my film endeavors, so being self-funded I always leaned heavily into how to “get the best bang for your buck.” I had some gear I collected over the years, and with my trusty Blackmagic Pocket, two video lights, a little LED light mat, and the absolute unbridled passion from my amazing cast and crew, Augury came to be.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

MR. BULLOCH: CHICAGO’S DONUT KING, 5min., USA
Directed by Claude Edward Fethiere
This short film celebrates Mr. Buritt Bulloch the successful owner of Old Fashioned Donuts Incorporated, a business which has thrived in the financially blighted Chicago south side neighborhood of Roseland for over 50 years.

Get to know the filmmaker:
I was motivated to make this film because in a world were food is ordered on kiosks, and mass produced by machines, seeing Mr. Bulloch hand make delicious masterpieces every day is a breath of fresh ( baked,raised, and fried ; ) ) air. I wanted to celebrate Mr. Bulloch’s artistry, resilience, wisdom, and charm.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

PARADISO, 12min., USA
Directed by Jonna Volz
Paradiso is a glimpse of a day in the life of an unhoused couple looking for shelter for the evening. As they find paradise in a vacant apartment they start dreaming big with possibility, until they are caught.

https://www.instagram.com/paradiso_short_film/

Get to know the actor & producer Lenny Hernandez:
Ultimately, it was an opportunity I wanted to challenge myself to create my own work. As an Actor you rely so heavily on other people to see your value, to give you a chance to showcase your skills and talents. It’s a tough industry to devote yourself to. And while I still love the process of auditioning for TV, Films, and hundreds of commercials, the reality is you only book a fraction of a fraction of paid gigs. So, I decided to take some time to shadow industry people behind the camera to learn the process of filmmaking. It was exactly the hands-on information I needed to learn. There I gathered enough knowledge and confidence to attempt to fully produce my own project in PARADISO.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

METAMORFOSI, 5min., Canada
Directed by Arty Sandler
A composer chooses to write music for "Alice in Wonderland" and by doing so accidentally opens a portal inside her piano, falls down the rabbit hole into the Wonderland and meets manifestations of different sides of her own character - Queen of Hearts and Jabberwocky.

https://www.milanazilnik.com/albums/metamorfosi
https://facebook.com/zilnikmilana
https://twitter.com/milanazilnik
https://instagram.com/milanazilnik

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/metamorfosi-review

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

I SAID, NO, 5min,. USA
Directed by Gabriella Wiltz
A young woman and her friends teach a man to respect her “no”.

https://www.instagram.com/isaidnofilm

Get to know writer/actor Angela Townsend:

I grew up performing as a salsa dancer and have attended many social dancing events where I did not always feel comfortable saying “no”. Salsa dancing is an intimate social dance that is all communicated through non-verbal cues and body language, and sometimes the communication can be unclear, people can be forceful with their movements, or just plain creeps. This film is about a person out there who has the confidence to say no and stand her ground.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

DIGGING OUT, 5min., USA

Directed by Lara Britton

Trapped in the trauma of her past and haunted by the voice of her abusive partner, a woman sorts through a wall of boxes in an old, rusty shipping container. With each box she discards, the voice gets louder, the effect of chronic abuse, until she uncovers a long-hidden artifact that sparks long-suppressed memories of who she once was, forcing her to confront her past in order to move on to the future.

Get to know the filmmaker:

Two things, really. First I've been in an abusive relationship in the past and have heard every one of these phrases. I know other women have heard similar things

Secondly, my mother in law was a hoarder, an organized hoarder, but a hoarder nonetheless and she lived in the memories of her past, surrounded by boxes and boxes of well-organized things. I thought how awful to be so mired in the past that she literally surrounded herself with remnants and never really moved on with a life after her husband died.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

A PROPER EDUCATION, 20min,. USA
Directed by MaryLanae Linen
Filmmaker MaryLanae Linen, frustrated by her lack of sex education, sets out to discover if her peers feel the same way. She meets with sex educators, parents, and friends and surveys the streets of Los Angeles to discover that they also lacked an informative and comprehensive sex ed. MaryLanae opens up about her own exploration of sex and reflects on how a lack of knowledge has hurt her. With the encouragement of her mother and peers, MaryLanae redefines her relationship with sex and reimagines a better future where young people can be uplifted and empowered with knowledge regarding boundaries, relationships, and bodily autonomy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuikVtFT7Cc
https://www.instagram.com/propereducation_film/

Get to know the filmmaker:
Growing up I always had a weird and strained relationship with my body and the idea of sex. As a victim of sexuall trauma it was hard for me to see sex as anything other than a bad thing. But as I grew up and met people with similar experiences and questions about sex I felt less alone. I realized that the lack of sex education isn’t just about parents not talking to their kids, it’s about parents not knowing what to say, it’s about the government not providing adequate education. AS seen in the film, there is so much that people don’t know about their own bodies. I wanted this film to open their eyes and make them less afraid of sex and their bodies.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

• Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook